GAZA CITY
Palestinian resistance faction Hamas vowed Thursday that Israel will pay a "price" for the killing of three commanders of its armed wing in an airstrike in the southern Gaza Strip.
"The assassination of the Qassam commanders is a big Israeli crime that will not break the will of the Palestinian people or their resistance," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said in a press release on Thursday.
"This crime will not weaken the resistance and Israel will pay the price," he added.
The Qassam Brigades said Thursday that its commanders Mohamed Abu Shamala, Raed al-Attar and Mohamed Barhoum had been killed in the southern Gaza Strip.
The brigades, however, gave no further details about the deaths.
But sources close to Hamas said the three commanders had been killed in an airstrike targeting a house in Tal al-Sultan neighborhood in the southern Rafah city early Thursday.
Seven Palestinians were killed and around 54 others were injured in the attack.
Israel also confirmed the killings, saying that Abu Shamala and al-Attar had been responsible for dozens of attacks against Israeli soldiers, including a 2006 cross-border attack in which two soldiers had been killed and another kidnapped.
Israel has been pounding the Gaza Strip since Tuesday following the collapse of a temporary ceasefire with Palestinian factions.
Israel accuses Palestinian factions of violating the ceasefire, a claim denied by Hamas, which accuses the self-proclaimed Jewish state of derailing efforts aimed at reaching a permanent ceasefire deal.
Since hostilities began on July 7, at least 2054 Palestinians have been killed and more than 10,000 others injured in relentless Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
According to Israeli figures, at least 67 Israelis – 64 soldiers and three civilians – have been killed.
Since 2007, the Gaza Strip has reeled under a crippling Israeli blockade that has badly affected the local economy and played havoc with residents' livelihoods.
By Ola Attalah
englishnews@aa.com.tr
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